Love verses

The Christian Roots of Valentine’s Day Some of us may have heard of St. Valentine, but did you know that there is more than one legendary figure that we remember on Valentine’s Day? We don’t know much about the “first” St. Valentine, other than the fact that he was a saint who died in Africa in the third century. The next St. Valentine was a Roman priest who was arrested and put into the custody of an aristocrat–also during the third century. When St. Valentine began to speak boldly about the power of Jesus to save people from pagan roots, the aristocrat said he would also become a Christ-follower…if St. Valentine was able to heal his daughter of blindness. Legend has it that the girl was healed. Sadly, the emperor of Rome killed them all (remember, this was a time of heavy persecution against Christians). But St. Valentine was beheaded for performing the healing miracle. There’s another version of this story about a St. Valentine who was a bishop, and healed an aristocrat’s son. He was also martyred in a brutal way, and buried in Rome. If you’ve noticed that there’s nothing distinctly romantic about any of these stories, you’re right. Though the Catholic Church began the tradition of Valentine’s Day to remember these men of faith, it wasn’t a romantic holiday. But over time, Valentine's Day evolved into a day celebrating romance rather than martyrdom. By Shakespeare’s time, people in western Europe were celebrating Valentine's Day with love notes and sentimental declarations. Today, people all over the world celebrate Valentine’s Day in different ways.